Hey everyone, Head Pirate here. I hope you enjoyed “We Should Stop”. I've been working on smaller, more periodical type articles and it’s been going over well, so here is another to share with you. Should the positive response continue into the New Year, I hope to put together a release schedule of 2 to 3 small themed pieces a week)
I spend a lot of my time debunking popular opinion in “against the flow” or fact checking it in “In Perspective” but in My Complete Erroneous Opinion it’s time to look at what I think; the opinions I hold that are not simply different or unpopular, but are flat out wrong.
The Best Final Fantasy game
Every time a new Final Fantasy game comes out, everyone talks about the glory that is Final Fantasy 7. But I don’t think it’s the best Final Fantasy game ever made; it’s not even in my top 5! So below are 5 games in the series that, in my completely erroneous opinion, are better than Final Fantasy 7
Number 5: Final Fantasy Adventure
Long before Pokémon, at a time when I still though Game & Watch was the cutting edge of portable entertainment, this GameBoy classic offered limitless hours of adventure, monster catching, and is the first GameBoy game I can remember that bothered with a story. It somehow took what was lovable about the original NES classic and gave it infinite replay value, back in a time where that wasn’t really a thing. After 23 years and countless games, this is still one of the most memorable and enjoyable Final Fantasy games I have ever played, and that’s good enough to land it in my number 5 spot.
Number 4: Final Fantasy: 13-2
I don’t understand why this game gets so much hate. It was a huge improvement over FF13 and added the exploration, open world, side quests, and switched to a non-liner format; everything the fans were asking for. The visuals were ahead of the times, the soundtrack was varied, memorable, and appropriate*, and game play was improved in every possible way. It was also very true to what makes Final Fantasy what it is … but these points are better covered in my number 3 entry, a game which in itself defines the series and perfectly captures its uniqueness.
Number 3: Final Fantasy X2
No I’m serious. Look, Final Fantasy is more than just a great RPG, and it does a lot to define itself as something different then Dragon Quest, Shin Megami Tensei, Tales, or any of the dozen or so similar series. Final Fantasy games have a clearly identifiable theme; a coming of age or end of innocence story revolving around crystals and a chosen one. Equally important is the way the story is told; focusing on the importance of connections between people and the different roles everyone plays in how the events unfold. It’s a world where not everyone gets to be the hero, and some of the main characters might need to make the ultimate sacrifice before the end. The games often shifts the characters you are playing to force you to see another side to the same conflict, or to experience an unforeseen consequence to your actions. Final Fantasy can also be defined by a strange balance between the critical and the absurd; one moment you’re fighting the Lord of Chaos in an almost futile attempt to prolong the end of the days, the next your singing in an opera or betting on Chocobo races in the middle of a floating city. If you could quantify what makes a game “Final Fantasy” then X2 is without question the most “”Final Fantasy” game every made. It focuses exclusively on the things that make Final Fantasy what it is. This game in itself is the unforeseen consequence and the change in perspective from X, which is why it’s the first true sequel in the franchise. It was an experiment in stretching that core experience of storytelling over two games so even the mechanics could shift to aid the change in paradigm. For all the questionable ways this changed the gameplay and mood of the first game, I think it worked perfectly in doing exactly that.
Also, dresses!
Number 2: Final Fantasy 14 online: A Realm Reborn
The vocal monitory of gamers are known for hating at lot of thing, but perhaps none have a higher hate to lack of merit ratio then the online play being added to traditionally single player experience. No matter how often the publishers try to explain how budget based on sale potential and human resources work, they continue to belief the only way to add multi-player is by taking something away from the single player. The cardinal sin of online play is when a single player franchise decides it wants to build an MMO, an offence Final Fantasy has imposed on its fans not once, but 3 times with FF11, 14, and “A realm reborn”.
FF11 was underwhelming, but came at a time when MMOs were all the rage and we were more willing to forgive. Besides, we had just come off the X and X2 high, so it’s not like we had gone a long time without a great Final Fantasy game to play. 14, on the other hand, was given to us not only after the poorly received 13, but at a point where MMO saturation had reached a critical mass; every MMO other than WoW was falling, we had gotten Star Wars: The Old Republic instead of Knights of the Old Republic 3, and we just found out Elder Scroll Online would get to us before the next single player game in the series. Worse, the game itself suffered for a serious case of the suck; content without context and activity without any fun. In a surprising move for a publisher (less surprising for a Japanese publisher to be honest) Square acknowledged the game was garbage and invited everyone to keep playing it for free until they made a new one. 2 years later we got “A realm reborn” and it delivered.
With a theme and characters that focused on a perfect mix of the serious, the cute, and the absurd, it feels just like a Final Fantasy game should. The single player focused plot-line does a great job of giving you the heroic feeling missing from most MMOs as well as something to do when you were alone, while cut scenes and character interaction build real connections between the player and the world around him (although you have to suspend disbelieve a bit and not question how these characters had the same deeply personal relationship with everyone else in your party). Beyond that it’s just a great MMO that constantly motivates you to play and rewards you for doing so. For that, FF14RR deserves praise on every level; it’s a great single player Finial Fantasy game, it’s a great MMO, and its’ the first time a game has given us both without completely messing up one or the other.
Number 1: Bravely Default
Are you honestly going to argue that because a game doesn't have the words “Final Fantasy” in the title, we should ignore its crystal focused adventure where you use X-Potions and Ethers while casting Fira or Esuna and switching jobs? I don’t think so. Bravely Default is more a Final Fantasy game than half the numbered sequels, and flawlessly strikes the balance between what we expect from a modern video game and what our nostalgia demands of the series. Add to that an incredibly strong end of innocence story, fantastic characters you can’t help but care about, and a half naked fairy that follows you around FOR NO GOOD REASON WHATSOEVER and you have, without question, the best Final Fantasy game ever made.
Although I like to encourage intelligent and thoughtful discussion with most of my blog posts, in this case feel free to flame me about how wrong I am in the comments below! I already know that. Or tell me about your opinions that are way out there.
* Gas ‘em up with the greens and let him go Stand back, stand clear as he puts on a show So cute yet fierce, is he from hell? I cannot tell, yet I don’t even want to know So you wanna be a trailblazer? Kickin’ dirt like a hell raiser? Take the reins, but don’t react slow It’s time to feel the force of the chocobo
So you think you can ride this chocobo? Got Chocobucks? You better put them on this chocobo! Saddle up, if you think you can ride in this rodeo Are we in hell? I don’t know… to the dirt, let’s roll! You’re loco if you think you’re gonna hide this chocobo Everybody’s gonna wanna ride your chocobo It’s choco-loco style in a choco-rodeo Gonna ride him straight through hell in this chocobo rodeo! Yeah, let’s ride!
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